Ron Barr and Sports Byline USA LIVE from Iraq

It's Showtime!

When you're halfway around the world and broadcasting Sports Byline away from the security and comfort of your home studio, it always feels like a space walk. The first show is always the and producer Jon Bullock and I are most concerned about. Will we get the signal to the satellite? Will all our sports guests call in for the show and for the soldiers to talk with? Our broadcast location is the DFAC (mess hall) Sports Oasis. A perfect location for us as it gives a lot of soldiers a chance to hear the show and to see their fellow soldiers co-host a national sports talk show. Even though I've been doing this for 22 years, with the American Forces Network (AFN) carrying Sports Byline USA for 21 of those years, I'm still amazed at how many soldiers come up to me and say they've listened to me in Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy or on a Navy ship in the Indian Ocean. It makes me smile each time I hear it.  Continue story...

The show went well and a great kickoff guest was Coach K. He called in from Greece. Not only did he coach Duke to this year's NCAA Basketball Championship, but he's the coach of the U.S. National team which is getting ready to play in the World Basketball Championship in Turkey. Coach K has been on with me for every show I've done in Iraq and Afghanistan. His connection to the military is strong. His first head coaching job was at West Point and he was an officer in the Army. One of my soldier co-hosts was intimidated, saying, “I can't believe I'm talking with Coach K.” After the broadcast, our crew sat in the DFAC, ate dinner, laughed and talked with the troops, signed autographs and had pictures taken with the soldiers. A great way to end the day. A day that ends with the hope for a good night's sleep and no more snoring from “The Bear” Jim Miller. This just in: No such luck and Miller is going to get his soon!

Wheels Up, Let's Go to Balad

Today is another helicopter trip, this time to Balad. The flight is only 25 minutes, but a portion of it is over Baghdad and the pilots and gunners in our two helicopters are particularly vigilant for any hostile action toward us from the ground. The crew in our helicopter apparently saw something they didn't like as they shot off two flares from our copter. The flares act as diversionary targets for heat seeking missiles. It turned out to be nothing.

Picture this and appreciate it for a moment. 120 plus degrees, full combat gear, sweating profusely, faces obscured by their darkened face shields and intent on making sure we're safe. That's the picture of our Blackhawk crew.

Looking over the Iraq landscape from about 2,000 feet you see the great contrast in the country. Barren, desert land gives way to a green, flowering agricultural landscape. It's another dichotomy that surprises you.

General Cone always likes to get us to places to meet soldiers who normally don't get sports celebrities or entertainers, so Balad is where he sent us. It's not that it's desolate or particularly small, it just doesn't get a lot of attention. As we approach, I see the aircraft bunkers Saddam Hussein had built to protect his Air Force. I wonder if they ever really ever had one or if it all was for show and to boost his ego.

The American base in Balad is important. We met with the Engineering group here. These soldiers are life savers. They have sophisticated equipment that nightly sweeps the roads for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that have maimed and killed many soldiers. They are nasty. With some 100 soldiers at parade rest in the broiling sun behind us, we get a briefing on their mission. After the briefing we see the vehicles and equipment they use to try to keep th roadways free of IEDs and the soldiers and Iraqi civilians harm free. It's an impressive presentation and something I had never seen before. It's amazing what our tax dollars are paying for, and in this case worthwhile.

These soldiers had been really looking forward to our visit. Aside from no one usually coming up to see them, this group was made up primarily of Wisconsin Reservists and National Guard soldiers. And, a star from their beloved Green Bay Packers was coming to see them. Antonio Freeman is a hero to them for his great catches and his contributions to the Packers success, especially in their Super Bowl 31 winning season. Jim, Bob and I took a backseat and watched Freeman work his fans. He took pictures, signed autographs and Packer memorabilia, and held up the line for us to sign autographs. It was well worth the delay. It's one of the magical moments of the trip so far. I could also see that Freeman enjoyed connecting with Packer
faithful again.

We next visited the Sustainment Group. This is an outfit you never hear about, but it's very important to the coordination of everything that happens on the ground in Iraq in the support of the troops. In the operations center an officer pulled me aside and said, “See that soldier there. She makes sure that no two military trucks come to the same intersection anywhere in Iraq at the same time.” It blew me away to think of that type of expertise and ability existed in the military. It's another example of the logistics it takes to run a military mission smoothly.

We had lunch with the troops and afterward retired to a side room where we signed more autographs and took more pictures. Bob Delaney signed his book “Covert” and everyone wanted a picture taken wearing Freeman and Miller's Super Bowl rings. You can bet a lot of the pictures of the soldiers wearing the rings will show up on Christmas cards this year.

It was a great visit for us and for the soldiers too. Neither of us wanted it to end. As we lifted off for the 25-minute return flight to Camp Victory, again we all had an appreciation for the men and women who make a commitment and are fulfilling that commitment in a place few have ever heard of-Balad, Iraq.